Research in practice.

Research on practice.

Our partners have the skills to help you with:

  • Quality Improvement Projects
  • Pragmatic Trials
  • Mixed Methods Studies
  • Cognitive Task Analysis



Completed Projects

Scaling Up Cirrhosis Care: Sub-Study

Understanding primary and specialty care physicians' mental models of cirrhosis care helps to identify factors that may hinder coordination of care, and will inform the development of a cirrhosis care pathway.

Summary
Full Report, October 2020

A second study further exploring mental models of cirrhosis symptom management has been completed. The findings are posted here.

Summary
Full Report, July 2021

Using Clinical Pathways for Cancer Diagnosis in Primary Care

Cancer related illnesses have a significant impact on the health system and creating clinical pathways could enhance symptom management, care delivery, and experiences of health care providers and patients throughout the diagnostic period. Working with the Cancer SCN we conducted a study to understand family physicians' thinking and approach to using three specific Clinical Pathways for cancer diagnosis.

Summary
Full Report

Improving Improvement: Pilot Study

This pilot project demonstrated it is possible to transfer skills and knowledge from Diffusion of Innovations theory and Cognitive Task Analysis to Practice Facilitators in order to support primary care transformation.


Scaling Up Integration In Alberta: Pilot Study

Improving integration between specialty and primary care is key to reducing unnecessary hospital admissions, readmissions, medical errors and delays in receiving care.


Scaling Up Primary Care Transformation

Our recent research using Cognitive Task Analysis sought to understand how we can move past successful demonstrations to widespread adoption of the Patient Medical Home in Alberta. Read our findings based on 42 interviews across 18 Alberta family medicine clinics.


Services We Offered

EnACt wanted to see primary care research in Alberta flourish with innovative and meaningful large-scale studies; as such we allocated resources to develop projects and pre-award support. This support included one-time consultation, on-going guidance, project collaboration, and/or having a dedicated Coordinator or Research Assistant for the project.

Research Assistance

  • Literature reviews
  • Data collection
  • Maintaining a Common CV
  • Writing ethics applications
  • Study recruitment
  • Posters and presentations

Pre-Award Support

  • Project concept and planning
  • Identifying collaborators
  • Conducting pilot studies
  • Applying for funding
  • Providing letters of support
  • Coordinating approvals and agreements

Project Coordination

  • Applying for funding
  • Creating a budget
  • Liasing with academic offices
  • Accessing health data
  • Coordinating agreements
  • Knowledge translation

Data Management

  • Database design guidance
  • Data transformation
  • Application development
  • Reporting tools
  • Survey expertise (REDCap)

Cognitive Task Analysis

  • Qualitative methods revealing the thinking involved in performing tasks in real-world contexts
  • Track record of successfully understanding and improving team functioning in many high-stakes settings
  • First to adapt to primary care with highly skilled Improvement Advisors from Toward Optimized Practice
  • Focuses on macrocognitive functions central to the way individuals and teams do their work
  • Conducting CTA studies: recruitment, data collection, analysis, reporting findings

Our Partners

EnACt collaborated and connected with many organizations and research networks within the Alberta primary care setting. These partners now have the skills and expertise to assist you with many of the supports we offered, such as Cognitive Task Analysis.

The EnACt team consisted of

Dr. Lee Green

AI Translational Health Chair

Tanya Barber

Research Coordinator

Nicole Olivier

Clinical Research Consultant

Matt Taylor

Data Manager

We thank EnACt's Board of Directors for their guidance.